Golf tee having a separable turf-inserting part

ABSTRACT

A golf tee is provided having a hollow flexible bendable stem, a rigid turf-inserting part fast to the stem at the bottom thereof and another rigid turf-inserting part separable from the stem. The other turf-inserting part has an enlarged head and a pointed shank extending therefrom. The shank is insertable into the hollow of the stem for pushing upon the first-mentioned turfinserting part to insert the tee in the ground.

[lll 3,633,919

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Inventor Frank J. Liccardello5926 Bishop, Detroit, Mich. 48224 United States Patent PATENTE() JMU l|372 FRANK J. LlccARoeLLo lNvENToR GOLF TEE HAVING A SEPARABLE TURF-INSERTING PART My invention relates to golfing.

The principal object of my invention is the provision of an improvedgolf tee which has flexible hollow stem means so that it doesn t breakor cut down on golf driving yardage and turf-inserting means so that thegolf` tee can be easily inserted into any type of turf encountered inuse.

The foregoing object of my invention and the advantages thereof willbecome apparent during the course of the following description, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a golf tee embodying myinvention;

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, are, respectively, top and bottom plan and transversesectional views of said embodiment;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are, respectively, front elevational and top plan views ofsaid embodiment showing the same being inserted into turf;

FIG. 7 is a front elevational view of said embodiment shown in use; and

FlG. 8 is a front elevational view of a part of said embodiment shown inuse.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, 10 generally designatessaid embodiment which comprises flexible stem means 12 andturf-inserting means in two parts, one of which, designated 14, isinsertable into and removable from said flexi- 4 ble stem means l2, theother of which, designated 16, is permanently anchored to said flexiblestem means 12. Said flexible stem means l2 may be made of a toughpolyurethane compounded rubber and is provided with a central axialaperture 13. The flexible stern means 12 is provided with a sphericalsurface 17 to support a golf ball and between the surface 17 and theaperture 13 the material of the flexible stem means 12 is removed toaccommodate said golf ball and for economy of material. Theturf-inserting part 16 may be made of metal, such as aluminum, and toenhance the bonding of the same with said stem means l2 the part 16 isprovided with a reduced diameter shank which extends inwardly into thelower end of the aperture 13. The shank l5 is provided with an aperture19 which is coaxial with the aperture 13 for receiving the turfinsertingpart 14. The turf-inserting part 14 is an elongated cylindrical objectwhich may be made of metal, such as aluminum, and is provided with anenlarged head 20 at its upper end and a reduced diameter pointed shank21 at its lower end. A conical shoulder 22 is formed between the mainbody portion of said turf-inserting part 14 and the shank thereof. Theturf-inserting part 16 serves as a turf-inserting pilot for the flexibleStem means 12 and for this purpose is provided with a conically pointedlower end. The turf-inserting parts 14 and 16 together serve as forcetransmitting means during insertion of the golf tee 10 into turf and forthis purpose the aperture 19 in the shank 15 is formed with a conicalshoulder 23 at its upper end which engages the shoulder 22 fortransmitting the turf-inserting part 16 the inserting force applied tothe head 20.

ln use of my invention, said embodiment 10 is assembled with theturf-inserting part 14 received in the apertures 13 and 19 and the stemmeans 12 is gripped with the first two fingers and the turf-insertingpart 14 with the thumb of the user. The turf-inserting part 16 isapplied to the turf and pushed upon in directly by means of theturf-inserting part 14 which is pushed upon directly by the users thumbuntil the stern means l2 is sunk into the turf an amount desired by theuser. A golf ball, such as the golf ball G, is then supported on the topofthe stem means l2 via the spherical surface 17 thereof. The user isable to address the goil` ball G and drive it with a golf club in theusual manner. The stem means l2 flexes (as show in dash-dot lines inFlG. 7) during the driving of the golf ball G from impact with the clubhead and because the stem means 12 is hollow it offers a minimumresistance to the momentum of the club head to permit maximum followthrough thereof. The

turf-inserting part 14 also has a separate use as a bali marker on agolf green during putting as shown in FIG. 8, hence the pointed shank2l. The parts of said embodiment 10 can be finely finished and the topof the head 20 personalized so as to render said embodiment 10 an objecthighly prized as well as useful.

lt will thus be seen that there has been provided by my invention animproved golf tee in which the object hereinabove set forth togetherwith many thoroughly practical advantages has been successfullyachieved. While a preferred embodiment of my invention has been shownand described it is to be understood that variations and changes may beresorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention as definedby the appended claims.

l claim:

1. An improved golf tee comprising, in combination, flexible bendablehollow stem means and rigid nonbendable turfinserting means having onepart thereof permanently fastened to said stem means and another partthereof separable from said stem means and insertable into the hollow ofthe latter for pushing upon said one turf-inserting part to insert thelatter together with said stem means into turf, said one turf-insertingpart fast on the bottom of said stem means, said stem means and said oneturf-inserting part having coaxial aperture means therein opening to thetop of said stem means in which said other turf-inserting part may bereceived, said other turf-inserting part having an elongated shankreceivable in said aperture means and engageable with said oneturf-inserting part, said other turf-inserting part having a head which,when said shank is received in said aperture means, is disposed abovesaid stem means so that it can be pushed upon to transmit a pushingforce via said shank, to said one turf-inserting part.

2. An improved golf tee as claimed in claim l, said other turf-insertingpart having a reduced diameter pointed lower end so that said otherturf-inserting part can be used as a ball marker on a golf green duringputting.

3. An improved golf tee as claimed in claim 1, said one turfinsertingpart conically pointed at the lower end thereof to serve as aturf-inserting pilot for said stem means.

4. An improved golf tee as claimed in claim 1, said other turf-insertingpart having a conical shoulder formed thereon, said one turf-insertingpart also having a conical shoulder formed thereon, the two shouldersengaged during insertion of said golf tee into turf for transmittingsaid pushing force from said other turf-inserting part to said oneturf-inserting part.

1. An improved golf tee comprising, in combination, flexible bendable hollow stem means and rigid nonbendable turf-inserting means having one part thereof permanently fastened to said stem means and another part thereof separable from said stem means and insertable into the hollow of the latter for pushing upon said one turf-inserting part to insert the latter together with said stem means into turf, said one turf-inserting part fast on the bottom of said stem means, said stem means and said one turfinserting part having coaxial aperture means therein opening to the top of said stem means in which said other turf-inserting part may be received, said other turf-inserting part having an elongated shank receivable in said aperture means and engageable with said one turf-inserting part, said other turf-inserting part having a head which, when said shank is received in said aperture means, is disposed above said stem means so that it can be pushed upon to transmit a pushing force via said shank, to said one turf-inserting part.
 2. An improved golf tee as claimed in claim 1, said other turf-inserting part having a reduced diameter pointed lower end so that said other turf-inserting part can be used as a ball marker on a golf green during putting.
 3. An improved golf tee as claimed in claim 1, said one turf-inserting part conically pointed at the lower end thereof to serve as a turf-inserting pilot for said stem means.
 4. An improved golf tee as claimed in claim 1, said other turf-inserting part having a conical shoulder formed thereon, said one turf-inserting part also having a conical shoulder formed thereon, the two shoulders engaged during insertion of said golf tee into turf for transmitting said pushing force from said other turf-inserting part to said one turf-inserting part. 